Asterism

46. trapped prey

***4 chapter update! Start at chapter 45 :) ***

AIDEN hates shopping.

With his family's wealth, he could go out and buy whatever he wanted right now, and yet, it seemed to have made him the opposite of materialistic.

Marley noticed his minimalism very soon after they met—nothing in his space is there without a daily, specific purpose. His clothes are not flashy, not overly expensive. They're high quality and certainly not cheap, but they could be more expensive. He's never been to a thrift store, where his girlfriend frequents, and as much as Marley knows he'd go with her wherever she wanted without voicing judgement, they're from two different worlds.

The only decorations he has in his apartment are the stock prints that came with it, necessary furniture, and pictures of he and Marley, and one of himself, Ian and Leo. He's procrastinated her attempts to decorate or put other things up, to make it feel more like a home. Marley knows he's comfortable with the simplicity, that it calms his mind, but she wants him to learn that his space can be full of love, warmth, life.

Besides, if their future is what Marley hopes, they'll share a home one day, and she won't admit to him yet but imagines he knows already that she can't live the way he does. In the grey. She ran her thumb along the border of a decorative pillow that read: "Family, the heart of the home," smiling to herself as she recalled their conversation about children. It was such a relief knowing that's what he wants, a family. With her. Something she never knew, and a dream she definitely doesn't see happening without at least a decorative throw and some flowers on the counter. Which Aiden always throws out as soon as one petal even appears to wilt. "I'll buy you another right now," is his go-to response when Marley complains. "Why would I want something on my clean kitchen counter that's going to...shed?"

Clearly, Marley has some work to do.

She whirled around with a small, green, fake plant in her hand that was on sale for a few dollars. It'd look great in the bathroom, where there wasn't any open windows, and it wouldn't wilt. It'd add something, at least.

"For the bathroom," Marley approached the cart where Aiden was standing, looking at it with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why."

She paused, and sighed. "For some colour."

"Why though."

She set it in the cart with a bit more force than necessary. "Because there's no colour."

"You have a pink toothbrush on the counter. My mouthwash is blue. There's a-"

"Oh my gods," Marley smacked her forehead. "Mouthwash? A toothbrush? That's not colour. This is a decoration. To add something to the room, something to look at."

"I don't need anything to look at in the bathroom." His expression changed then, and Marley knew what that look meant. She gulped, stumbling backwards when she was backed into the opposite shelf. Her knees weakened watching his large hand grip the shelf beside her head, simultaneous with the feel of his other hand tangling in her hair, tugging on her scalp. Her widened eyes were forced to his. "Except for you, on your knees in our shower."

Seriously? Marley hadn't realized she said that out loud until he chuckled into her neck, nipping below her ear.

She was already having a hard enough time walking around with him in a public place where she couldn't jump him, couldn't act upon her constant frustration, of course he had to go and make it worse. She shivered, shifting uncomfortably, but still for some reason remained frozen between his arms.